ASUS IoT AI vision inspection helps Sheriff Tea Egg achieve “the finickiest” quality control
Product quality inspection is crucial for ensuring food safety in the food production industry. Jin Jialong, the parent company of Sheriff Tea Egg — a renowned local brand celebrated for crafting “the finickiest tea eggs” in Tainan — upholds a steadfast commitment to perfectionist quality control. To deliver on this promise, Sheriff Tea Egg has adopted an AI-powered vision-inspection system, implemented with the support of ASUS IoT and the local integration provider P.H. Precision. This move positions the company as a pioneer in the digital transformation of the food industry.
Since 2011, Sheriff Tea Egg has expanded its operations to include multiple production lines for tea eggs, dried tofu and egg whites, while successfully broadening its retail channels. These channels now range from direct-sale stores and convenience stores to large supermarkets and even luxury hotels. The company has also extended its reach internationally, establishing authorized sales points in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau and key Chinese cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou. With this rapid business growth, maintaining standardized quality has become a critical priority.
ASUS, the company driving Sheriff Tea Egg’s transformation, established its ASUS IoT Business Group (AIoT BG) in 2019 to meet the growing demand for smart solutions sparked by Industry 4.0. With a team of over 1,000 AI engineers, ASUS IoT specializes in developing B2B integration services for AIoT software and hardware. Its collaboration with Sheriff Tea Egg serves as a prime example of leveraging advanced AI capabilities to provide innovative solutions, enabling a traditional food company to implement intelligent quality control systems.
As a key system integrator for the wider ASUS group, PH Precision has been instrumental in localizing ASUS IoT’s AI technology for use in production environments. Established in 2017 with the broad vision of making smart manufacturing easier, PH Precision specializes in delivering comprehensive solutions that integrate smart manufacturing with precision machine design. By leveraging its expertise in system integration, digitalized processes, and AI-powered vision applications, the company helps clients enhance production quality and streamline management efficiency, enabling swift and effective smart upgrades. Through its innovative approach and technical expertise, PH Precision has become a trusted partner for enterprises transitioning into smart manufacturing.
The president of Jin Jialong, You Zhong-Shan (尤忠山; second left), Vice President Shi Li-Yue (施麗月; middle), collaborate with ASUS IoT (first left), and PH Precision (first and second right) to build a rigorous quality control standard, promoting a smart transformation on production lines.
Before implementing the AI vision-inspection system, Sheriff Tea Egg had already established a meticulous quality-control framework. Vice President Shi Li-Yue (施麗月) highlighted the brand’s stringent ingredient selection process, stating that only medium-level eggs from seven-month-old hens are chosen to ensure optimal bounciness and nutritional value. The manufacturing process for a single tea egg involves 12 intricate steps and 72 hours of careful craftsmanship, with rigorous quality checks at every stage. Similarly, the production of dried tofu includes a comprehensive hardness test, which is adjusted seasonally to account for variations in ingredient characteristics, ensuring consistent product quality.
As market demand grows, traditional vision-inspection methods are no longer sufficient to meet the need for faster, larger-scale, and higher-quality production. To address this, PH Precision implemented ASUS IoT’s AI vision-inspection technology to establish a smart production line. At the core of this system is the ASUS IoT PE4000G fan-less industrial computer, a robust edge GPU platform designed for rugged industrial environments. Equipped with the latest Intel® Core™ processors and 64GB of DDR5 storage, PE4000G delivers exceptional computational efficiency. Its fan-less design is particularly advantageous for food manufacturing, effectively preventing dust contamination and ensuring hygiene. Additionally, PE4000G adheres to the exacting MIL-STD-810H military standard, offering superior earthquake resistance and durability. Its ability to operate reliably across a wide temperature range, from -20°C to 60°C, makes it an ideal solution for the demanding conditions of food production.
ASUS IoT AISVision, an AI vision software toolkit, is tailored to meet Sheriff Tea Egg's specific identification requirements. Complementing this, PH Precision developed a central control system that integrates surrounding equipment, including the front-end ingredient loader, alignment machine, and vision inspector. This integration simplifies processes, enhances operational efficiency and streamlines data collection by unifying the operation of multiple devices under a single control system. This holistic approach accelerates the implementation of smart manufacturing, empowering Sheriff Tea Egg to achieve greater productivity and precision.
ASUS IoT PE4000G features a versatile I/O interface, including USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C and multiple USB ports, enabling seamless connectivity with various industrial cameras and sensors. Its dual high-speed gigabit Ethernet ports ensure stable and immediate system operations, while the built-in PCIe 5.0 slot supports GPUs exceeding 200W, delivering robust AI processing capabilities. The system also integrates IoT functionality with an M.2 interface that supports WiFi 6 and 4G/5G connectivity, facilitating real-time data uploads and analysis. Each product is assigned a unique serial number and linked to a production tracking system, allowing for rapid identification of quality anomalies and enabling swift corrective measures to enhance manufacturing processes.
Image: Jin Jialong implements the ASIUS IoT AI vision inspection system, with the PE4000G industrial computer and AIS Vision software, significantly improving inspection accuracy on the production line.
During the system's implementation, ASUS IoT IoT and PH Precision showcased exceptional professionalism, successfully addressing challenges in system integration. One key challenge involved collecting large quantities of defective samples to train the AI model without disrupting normal manufacturing operations. To address this, the technical teams from ASUS IoT and PH Precision conducted system calibration at night, ensuring uninterrupted daytime production while continuously refining system performance. Through ongoing optimization and data collection, the inspection accuracy improved the yield rate from 93% initially to over 97%., substantially reducing the reliance on manual inspection.
Following the launch of the new system, Sheriff Tea Egg has experienced a significant increase in operational efficiency. Shi Li-Yue highlighted that the management team now benefits from the visualized dashboard-style interface, which provides immediate, comprehensive and intuitive insights into availability and capacity status. Moreover, the implementation of a business-intelligence (BI) system will enable the integration of production data, allowing for precise evaluation of capacity limits and the optimization of production planning.
Shi Li-Yue emphasized that this smart project represents a key milestone in the company’s digital transformation. It not only serves as a model for innovation through the interdisciplinary collaboration between the food and technology sectors but also sets a new benchmark for Taiwan's traditional food manufacturing industry. For Sheriff Tea Egg, this transformation has not only addressed quality control challenges but also paved the way for the traditional food sector’s shift toward smart manufacturing.
Looking ahead, Sheriff Tea Egg plans to expand the system's capabilities, evolving towards a more comprehensive smart manufacturing approach. Meanwhile, the company aims to leverage its digital transformation experience to benefit new brands. By utilizing data analysis, Sheriff Tea Egg will target the right customers and implement precise marketing strategies, further enhancing its competitiveness in the market.